Tightrope
by YanaEffect
Summary: Just another day at the orphanage Naruto and Sasuke are staying at.


The dense silence in the air was both calming and annoying. Naruto moved uncomfortably in his seat, feet touching the ground thanks to his growth spurt, and his arms were crossed haughtily. He sniffled, once or twice, then looked up to see the expression of the man before him.

"So? Are you going to apologize or not? I don't have all day." Iruka, one of the orphanage counselors said patiently. Instead of looking Naruto in the eye, he was studying the documents on the desk, index finger tracing a line on the papers. He was used to kids beating each other up, and even though he'd always overlooked some things to let children feel free as much as possible, violence was never something that could possibly be tolerated in a public place and among children.

"Sorry, sorry. It won't happen again," said Naruto, his tone making it apparent that he was saying it only for the sake of leaving the room.

Above his glasses, Iruka furrowed his brows. "Do you mean it?"

Naruto shrugged, hands joined. "No."

"Naruto."

"He called Sasuke a faggot."

Iruka put down the paper in his hand, and leaned back, letting out a shallow breath. "It's on him if he decides to be a bully. And a jerk. There were other ways than kicking him in the nuts to solve this."

"Like what?" Naruto asked, a brow raised.

"Consulting a counselor."

"Bullshit. They do nothing. You know that, Iruka."

"This is all I can offer you if you can't solve the problem with your words and convince him to be nice to you. I know this sucks, Naruto. But you have to understand it's the only way to keep things around here in order. So please. Do not use your hands," he looked down, "or your feet, again."

"Fine."

He sighed and grabbed his pen and made a dismissive wave with his hand. "Close the door on your way out."

Naruto got to his feet, staring at his worn-out sneakers, and fisted his hands. There were many things he wanted to say - about the system, about how fucked up the entire world was and how the other kids were never nice to him. Or Sasuke.

But he chose to keep his mouth shut. He knew what type of punishment he'd receive if he went too far, and it was more than he could take.

He softly shut the door after stepping out of the tiny office. The black haired, lean boy was sitting on the marble windowsill, worrying on his lower lip. He looked up when he heard Naruto come, and hopped down, landing on his feet perfectly. "How'd it go?"

"Good, I think?" Naruto made a guess. "I got away with it."

"This was the third time this month, Naruto," Sasuke warned. "They will send you to the room the next time, no doubt."

The idea of being alone in a room, alone, not speaking to anybody for a whole week and not eating anything other than oatmeal and mashed potatoes was enough to make Naruto shiver. "You don't know that," he spoke, voice small as they started to walk side by side. "Maybe Iruka will be here again. He ignores."

"No, he's just being nice. There's a difference."

Naruto raked a hand through his hair. "Where's Sai?"

"In the nursery. He won't be up for a while." He winced. "You hit him pretty hard."

"I don't remember." He slipped his hands into the pockets of his cargo shorts. "Wanna grab some lunch?"

Sasuke checked his watch - it was a birthday gift from Naruto, bought with a limited budget, but it was still the most precious thing Sasuke owned. "Why not."

They made their way to the dining hall through the garden for it was in another building. It was a sunny Sunday; the flowers were in full bloom, and summer had already made its presence known. Groups of children were playing games, and some loners and teachers were occupying most of the benches. Others were either eating, or they were in their dormitories, Naruto guessed, despite the warm weather.

There was a short line of people in the dining hall. Sasuke stood in front of Naruto, not happy about what had happened earlier, and he usually made it show instead of hiding it. Naruto huffed out and lightly poked Sasuke's back. Sasuke didn't even flinch.

"Sasukeeee."

"What?" Was the clipped reply.

"Are you mad at me?" He pinched the fabric of Sasuke's top and pulled.

"No," Sasuke said, angling his head to the side for Naruto to hear him clearly. "I'm just disappointed."

Naruto let go of Sasuke's shirt since it was his turn, and grabbed a fork and a spoon from the big box of utensils. He put them on the cheap, brown tray with a broken side, then advanced further to get his lunch.

His heart was pounding in his chest. He tried so hard to keep the bad feeling at bay, to keep it from affecting himself, but disappointing Sasuke was… awful. They had grown up together, Sasuke was like the brother he never had - no, he was more than that. Sasuke was his soulmate, he could say, he'd read that word in a book and had always wanted to use it, so after they got their chicken soup and rice that had gotten cold and found a seat in the backyard, he opened his mouth to speak. "You're my soulmate, Sasuke."

Sasuke pushed his spoonful of soup past his lips.

"I don't know where that came from, just so you know. Just felt like saying it." Naruto scratched his cheek. He was hungry - he was always hungry - but he was also hungry for attention. Specifically from Sasuke. And when Sasuke was ignoring him, he wanted to shake him, make him look Naruto in the eye and pay attention to him.

"What, idiot?" Sasuke spit out. "I'm trying to eat."

"Stop ignoring me! I said something. Answer me, bastard."

"What? What am I supposed to say?" Sasuke asked.

Naruto froze for a second, then shook his head, disheartened, grabbing for his spoon. "Nevermind."

"Naruto."

"What?"

"...Stop sulking and eat. We have homework to do."

Naruto glared at Sasuke. "I'm trying! Ugh. You know what? If you're gonna be brooding like this, I'm just gonna go eat inside."

"No." Sasuke put down his fork and splayed his hand on Naruto's tray. "Naruto. All I ask from you is to stay out of trouble."

"I was defending you, for fuck's sake, Sas," Naruto bit out. "He called you a f-"

Sasuke reached forward and slapped his hand on Naruto's mouth. His eyes were wide and alert. "I know what he called me."

Naruto gently grabbed hold of Sasuke's wrist and pulled it away from his mouth, not letting it go. "Then why are you being so goddam pesky about it." He said, more like a statement rather than a question, and let Sasuke's hand fall on the table. He went back to eating when Sasuke didn't answer.

The backyard of the dining hall was usually unoccupied except for breakfast, lunch and dinner hours. Sasuke and Naruto had chosen the table under the ancient willow tree as their spot for eating, studying and hanging out. Naruto sometimes complained about the bugs falling from the tree, or ants crawling their way up his leg, but Sasuke paid no attention to him, and kept doing whatever he was doing.

When they were full (or as full as they could possibly be from the amount of food they'd eaten), they paid a visit to the tray carrying trolley inside the building before making their way to the dormitories.

Sasuke was the one to break the silence. "A family's coming for me today."

"Oh." Naruto was lying on the top bunk, which was Sasuke's bed at first, but they'd switched. He sat up, and crawled to the edge of the bed, then let himself dangle upside down to see Sasuke. "How are you feeling?"

Sasuke kept his mouth shut. He averted his gaze from Naruto, and fixed it on some kid doing God knows what under his sheets.

"Heh. They won't like you anyway with this attitude."

"Shut up," Sasuke murmured, a smile creeping up his lips. He rolled to his side, his back facing the blond boy.

* * *

They had agreed on meeting at the backyard to do homework after Sasuke's council. Sasuke kept thinking this over and over again, that he was going to see Naruto after this bullshit was through. He crossed his legs and brushed his long bangs aside, impatient to see who the hell wanted to adopt him. Children around their age usually didn't get many applicants, he hadn't had one since last year, and Naruto, well, since they were about 10.

"Hello, Sasuke. I'm Kurenai," a young woman entered the meeting hall. Perhaps a new counselor. "The family's about to arrive. How are you today?"

He crossed his fingers under the desk. "I'm good. Can't wait to meet 'em."

"That's great. I'm here to inform you a bit about them," she took a seat next to Sasuke, and dived her hand in her purse, pulling out some papers. "Let's see. Their names are Misaki, and… Yuu. Pronouns, her and her. Yuu is working as a freelance photographer. Misaki has a home office, it says, and she's designing wedding invitations and such." She offered a gentle smile. "What a lovely job, isn't it?"

"Wait," Sasuke shook his head, confused. "They're both female?"

"Ah. Yes. Gay couples are allowed to adopt children since last November. Did you skip any informative classes?"

"I think I did, the one in December. I was down with a cold," mumbled Sasuke, internally cursing at Naruto for not telling him about this.

"Well, now you know about it."

There was a knock on the door, and two beautiful women stepped inside. Sasuke couldn't decide which one looked more nervous.

"Hello. Take a seat, please," Kurenai stood up, leaving the papers she held to Sasuke. "I'm Kurenai, and this is Sasuke."

"Nice to meet you!" The lady with bright green hair and side ponytail cheered, though her voice shook slightly.

Kurenai let out a chuckle. "I'll be down the corridor, in my office if you need me."

Sasuke watched Kurenai leave. The counselor for adoption had changed, apparently, and Kurenai wasn't new at all. She even had her own office. Sasuke didn't miss Ebisu much, who never cared about anything except for the porn he hid in books.

"So…"

"I'm Sasuke. I'm 13-years-old. I like reading books and taking a stroll with my best friend."

"That was… fast," the green haired woman spoke again, looking at her spouse. "Do you want to go first, honey?"

"Sure," she answered. Her voice was deep and rich, nothing like Sasuke was expecting. "My name is Misaki. I'm 29. We've been together with Yuu for almost 10 years." She reached for Yuu's hand and squeezed it, smiling at her. "I work from home. Yuu is a photographer, and I use the photographs she takes in invitations and cards. My favorite kind of cards are birthday cards. They're so full of joy, you know?"

Sasuke didn't know about that, but he ended up nodding anyway.

"We have an extra room in our house, and we thought it was time for a child. We always wanted one, but we knew we had to wait until we had a steady income."

"I see," Sasuke breathed out.

"Yuu?"

"Heh. I'm Yuu, as you know by now. I'm 3 years younger than Misaki, so I'm 26. She already told you that I'm a photographer. What else… Oh, I know! I love bananas and pineapples. I love all kinds of exotic fruits, really. Also, tomatoes."

"I like tomatoes, too," Sasuke interfered.

"Yeah? That's awesome!"

They shared a smile. Weirdly, it didn't take long for Sasuke to warm up to the couple. They were kind and nice toward him, and were treating him with love and respect, even though nothing was certain yet.

"So, Sasuke. I have an important question for you."

Sasuke reclined in his chair. "Yes?"

"Do you want to be adopted? Would you like a family? Don't get me wrong - I'm asking because, well, you're over a certain age and we just couldn't decide if… yeah. We like you a lot. What do you think?"

Sasuke froze. He'd been never asked before. He decided to be straightforward after a moment of hesitation. Would he want a family? Yes. More than anything.

Did he want to leave? On his own?

No.

"I'm happy here."

Yuu's smile disappeared. "Yeah?"

"Yeah."

Despite Sasuke's words, they talked for a while more. Sasuke didn't complain. Kurenai returned later to escort the couple to her office, and Sasuke was sent back to his dormitory. He fetched his backpack and books, and went to their spot. Naruto was sitting at the table, knees drawn to chest and a book in his hands, but he didn't appear reading.

"Hey," Sasuke called out.

Naruto looked up, seeming startled. "Hey."

The elephant in the room was ignored as Sasuke settled next to Naruto. He leaned back, propping his back against Naruto's legs, and pulled out his History notebook from his backpack.

"Did you start without me?" Sasuke inquired, rummaging through his pencil case for a good pencil.

"No. I couldn't focus." Suddenly, arms were loosely wrapped around Sasuke's torso. He could feel Naruto's warm breath on his neck. "Are they taking you away?"

"No."

"How are you so sure?"

"They asked me if I wanted to go."

Naruto rested his forehead on Sasuke's shoulder. "They did?"

"I said no."

"But… they might not listen to you."

"I know. They seemed nice."

Naruto let out a depressed breath. "They liked you."

"Naruto. I'm not going."

The arms receded from his view. Naruto returned to his book, this time with a pencil in his other hand.

* * *

It was around 8 o'clock when they called for Sasuke from the counselor's office. Naruto knew it was about adoption, they were going to let him know either he was accepted or not. And honestly, Naruto was scared to death that they were going to take Sasuke away from him. He'd almost told Sasuke not to go, but that would seem… weird. And they would eventually come and get him anyway, so he'd opted to seem nonchalant about the whole event, but he knew Sasuke knew he was anxious and scared.

He'd spent some time trying to take his mind off things: he'd finished his homework, read the first ten pages of Airborn by Kenneth Oppel, and drawn an airship sketch because he was inspired to do so. He was sure he'd looked glum to other kids, but he wasn't in the mood to wear a happy face.

When he heard footsteps approaching, he looked up, his heart in his mouth, but it wasn't Sasuke.

"Where's your faggot friend, dickless?"

He sat up, Indian style. "Sai. I see you're walking."

The pale kid placed his hands on his hips. He was older than Sasuke and Naruto, and he was using it to his advantage. "I won't be able to say the same thing about you when I'm done with your petty ass."

With that, he punched Naruto straight in his stomach.

Naruto doubled over in pain, holding his tummy, feeling like he was about to throw up his dinner over his sheets. The pain was so deadly intense that he could barely breathe. He could feel beads of sweat appearing on his forehead and neck, but Sai wasn't done with him. Other kids were watching - Naruto could feel their gazes on himself, but they weren't doing anything. They had learned not to get in fights long ago.

When he saw Sai raising his arm for another punch, he tried defending himself with his legs. But that wasn't necessary, because somebody stopped that hand from connecting with his body.

"Sai. Cut it out."

Said boy turned around, a smirk spread across his face. "See who's back, peeps? Faggot."

Some kids laughed.

"I told you… not to… call him… that…" Naruto said with hardship. He was still in pain from the earlier punch.

Sasuke let go of Sai when he noticed Naruto's stomach and ran to his side. "Naruto. Are you okay?"

"See? Faggots."

"Shut up, Sai." Some older kid yelled. That was enough for Sai to leave, because he was afraid of boys older than him.

"Coward," whispered Naruto.

"Let's go outside. I need to talk to you."

Naruto felt like a freight train hit him. He forgot about his pain and stood up, anxiety washing over, and nodded, following Sasuke out of the dormitory.

They weren't allowed to leave the building after 10. Luckily, it was a little past 9, so they could talk in the garden.

"What?" Naruto asked when they sat in a bench.

"I'm staying."

"Oh, thank fuck," Naruto felt tears threatening to fall from his eyes. He blinked a couple of times for them to go away. "What did they say?"

"That they respected my decision. I think the new counselor told them about the car crash. They apparently travel a lot. And I can't stay in the car for too long. That's one thing." He suddenly turned around and harshly jabbed Naruto's side.

"Ow! First Sai, now you?!"

"You never told me that gay couples are now adopting kids."

"They do?"

Sasuke licked his lips. "You went to the informative class in November."

"Yeah. Oh. I must have dozed off," Naruto rubbed the back of his neck, one hand rubbing his side.

"Let me see."

"Wha-"

Before Naruto could oppose, Sasuke lifted his shirt to see Naruto's stomach. The lights were weak, but he could clearly see a redness and swollen skin. "That's gonna bruise."

"I know."

Lightly, he traced his finger on the skin. When Naruto hissed, he pulled back and let go of the shirt.

"We have school tomorrow," Naruto said to break the silence.

"Hm." Sasuke leaned back.

"Sasuke. Do you think somebody will eventually adopt us? Or will we always be together?"

"I don't know. No. Probably not." He let out a sigh.

"No matter what. Even if they take you from me, or take me from you. I will find you again."

Sasuke put his hands on the bench to each side of his body. His left hand brushed Naruto's.

"No matter what. Let's stick together to the end. Okay?"

He felt a warm hand cover his own. "Okay."


End file.
